Most digital timekeeping devices require the manual initial setup of the current time, as well as periodic resynchronization to an ideal time due to the imprecise time keeping mechanisms found within a given device. Time keeping abilities can be found embedded into many appliances, as well as stand alone timekeeping devices. The accumulation of such timekeeping devices introduces many inconveniences due to these generic timekeeping devices' shortcomings mentioned above.
Most digital timekeeping devices to this date do not have the ability to reset themselves in the event of a power failure, or after initial power on. Standalone timekeeping devices as well as the embedded timekeeping devices found in appliances, must each be manually reset if such an event were to occur. Further, individual timekeeping devices do not have the ability to synchronize themselves to a known time standard or to automatically compensate for regional phenomena such as daylight savings time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,028 to Burklin discloses a synchronizing system in which clocks with a plurality of different precision classes are used in synchronizing the clock system. When a particular clock receives the time from another clock, it will receive the time from the clock of highest precision for keeping time. However, in the event the highest precision clock fails to transmit its time, the next lower precision clock takes over broadcasting the time to other clocks. In addition to other disadvantages, only one clock at a time is used to transmit its time to all the other clocks in the system.
The present invention solves many of the problems associated with the prior art.